Murder charges for man, 90

AMHERST, N.Y. — A 90-year-old man accused of bludgeoning and suffocating his wife of nearly 68 years leaned on a walker as he made his way into court on a murder charge Thursday, both eyes blackened and his neck bruised.

Dressed in orange jail clothing, John Bunz said nothing as his lawyer waived his right to a felony hearing in the death of Virginia Bunz, 89.

The case will now go to a grand jury.

Police charged Bunz with second-degree murder Sunday after Virginia Bunz was found dead inside their apartment at the Amberleigh retirement community, a manicured complex of three-story buildings in the well-off Buffalo suburb of Amherst.

No motive has been released, and little is known about what happened between the elderly couple that morning.

Neither police nor prosecutors will release details about how Virginia Bunz died or discuss Bunz's injuries. Police have said they had no reason to believe it involved a suicide pact or mercy killing.

Bunz's lawyer declined to discuss the case or his client's physical appearance Thursday.